I know I dropped off the face of the forums, but it's because I took a new job that I may or may not have mentioned. the 98 hour work weeks are winding down a bit now that I am almost full staffed. But to make a long story short, my chef from La gren (ouille) left and I decided to follow him as chef d'cuisine at a new spot that had been open for half a year with a ****** chef and it was time for the owners to turn things around.

I am completely exhausted and broken but am exceedingly happy with where I am at this point in my career. We are masochists in this industry and I am no exception. I had my first day off in 27 days the other day and I slept so long my back hurt lol. Anyway, we are starting to pick up and get a lot of good press. The name of the restaurant is La Silhouette. I posted a very similar thread to this a week or two ago (all the days are blending together at this point) but accidently pushed the back button and fell asleep instead of rewriting it.

But check out some of my press, got a 26 in the new zagat for food as well as second best new restaurant. and I would love for some of you guys to come in and eat.

Best of luck. I will definately check it out the next time I am in NY.

JanusInTheGarden

11-05-2011, 10:36 AM

Congratulations! You should be very proud--especially considering all that time you put in. Good on ya.

NO ChoP!

11-05-2011, 12:54 PM

Living the dream! Kudos!

JohnnyChance

11-07-2011, 05:02 AM

Nice to hear from ya. I'll try to visit some day.

memorael

12-16-2011, 03:18 PM

This is inspiring, Thanks for sharing!

AnxiousCowboy

01-09-2012, 12:24 PM

Thanks, things are going well after the holiday push. Still waiting to get reviewed by the Times, though. Working with my chef on several menu changes and finally getting some proper staff; had several cooks walk on me in the middle of the busy season. Just filmed an intro for the show Chopped, so that's my next side project at the moment. I've never seen the show (I'm downloading an episode now) but when the PR was trying to persuade me to do it they had me at "$10k." In reality I really dislike TV beyond a small handful of TV shows. We'll see what happens..another new experience under my belt if nothing else. As interesting as TV may be for some people the only thing I'm truly focused on now is the new menu changes and awaiting the review. We're also going to be doing a Zagat-promotional Prix Fixe featuring 'duck.' 5-6 courses using duck. We have one duck breast entree on the menu, and we make several other items out of those bi-products, mostly lunch and pre-theatre menu items (3 pates/terrines/sandwich, confit/croquettes/cassoulets, consomme/jus/sauce bigarade, etc). I'll be shooting the show sometime between February and April, I'll let you guys know when it airs when I know--beyond that I signed a contract saying that I cannot speak about much more.

Stay Tuned!

AnxiousCowboy

01-09-2012, 12:25 PM

PS why the **** hasn't anyone come in to eat yet?

Andrew H

01-09-2012, 12:29 PM

Thanks, things are going well after the holiday push. Still waiting to get reviewed by the Times, though. Working with my chef on several menu changes and finally getting some proper staff; had several cooks walk on me in the middle of the busy season. Just filmed an intro for the show Chopped, so that's my next side project at the moment. I've never seen the show (I'm downloading an episode now) but when the PR was trying to persuade me to do it they had me at "$10k." In reality I really dislike TV beyond a small handful of TV shows. We'll see what happens..another new experience under my belt if nothing else. As interesting as TV may be for some people the only thing I'm truly focused on now is the new menu changes and awaiting the review. We're also going to be doing a Zagat-promotional Prix Fixe featuring 'duck.' 5-6 courses using duck. We have one duck breast entree on the menu, and we make several other items out of those bi-products, mostly lunch and pre-theatre menu items (3 pates/terrines/sandwich, confit/croquettes/cassoulets, consomme/jus/sauce bigarade, etc). I'll be shooting the show sometime between February and April, I'll let you guys know when it airs when I know--beyond that I signed a contract saying that I cannot speak about much more.

Stay Tuned!

Good luck! :D

Lefty

01-09-2012, 02:59 PM

Awesome! Good luck! I'm a big fan of the show, so let us know when you're on. :D

WildBoar

01-09-2012, 03:05 PM

That's really cool. The judges are kinda a-wipes on the show, although they tend to be a little nicer now then they were the first season or two. I think off-camera they are much friendlier.

Can't wait to see your on-camera knife arsenal :cool2:

sachem allison

01-09-2012, 11:36 PM

Good luck! :D

I did chopped a while back, what a total pain in the ass. Have fun.

ecchef

01-10-2012, 09:23 AM

PS why the **** hasn't anyone come in to eat yet?

Anyone from KKF, or anyone at all!? That doesn't sound good.

Lefty

01-10-2012, 09:27 AM

I did chopped a while back, what a total pain in the ass. Have fun.

Link please?

sachem allison

01-10-2012, 11:29 PM

Link please?

season 4 episode 11 keep on cookin on. i can't find a link

WildBoar

01-11-2012, 01:52 AM

season 4 episode 11 keep on cookin on. i can't find a linkI can only find it on iTunes. Episode 7 according to the index. Gotta get my wife to download this for me :)

http://www.clicker.com/tv/chopped/keep-on-cook-n-on-2297077/

sachem allison

01-11-2012, 02:37 AM

when you watch keep in mine I just had a heart attack few days before. I was not at my best. I actually was barely standing and they had a paramedic on call watching my every move.lol

Justin0505

01-11-2012, 01:54 PM

Link please?

I couldn't get a direct link to work and the site is kinda a PIA where you have to click through a few pages to finally get to the show, but it's the only place that i could find it.

http://watchseries.eu/episode/~107913
(click through one of the 'gorilliavideo' links in the list)

Watching this just reminded me why I don't watch this show: the most abnoxious, but idiotic judges in food tv.
Son's preparation of the tenderloin was EXACTLY how I like it and actually alittle tricky to do well... and rather than recognize the validity of the approach, the a-wipe on the end is all like "i eat raw hamburger and this is too rare for me.
But he thought that the well-done lump of grey that the other guy did was "perfect".

Anyway Son, know that even if I weren't biased by you being on here I still woulda picked your dish. I'm glad that you kept on cooking and I'd love to see what you could do in good health and in front of some people that hold their heads between their shoulders; not between their butt-cheeks.

sachem allison

01-11-2012, 04:36 PM

at that point in the show they edited out all the good stuff. All of my knives disappeared, five minutes later they brought me someone else's pos knives to use. mine was the only tenderloin not cleaned. that's why i cooked it that way. I sold about 30 orders a week of black and blue fillets in my restaurant. we had taro root and you need to wear gloves as they are toxic raw, well my box of gloves disappeared off my table and you can't use anyone else's stuff. Allen say's " chef son why have you elected not to wear gloves with this highly toxic root" "because some ass stole my gloves".
Half way between cooking the taro root chips the gas goes out on the stove and i end up with poached taro.

Chris jaekle forgets to season any of his food, no salt no pepper. The judges tell him that it is unacceptable for a chef to serve food without seasoning. Chris Santos tells him " i would never serve this in any of my restaurants." " This food is inedible!" The only thing that was good was the cherry sauce. he went on to the next round. keep in mind he is Morimoto's sous chef.

Poppy who owns a restaurant that only serves meat cut every steak a different thickness. serves one chef a burnt hockey puck, one a perfect medium and one rare to the judges and he too forgot to season. judges say's " are you sure you own a meat restaurant, maybe you should rethink that" he also went on to the next round. Keep in mind he went to culinary school with one of the producers.

My turn after all the crap, I turn in some pretty good food. I told them it would be black and blue. Chris says " this eggplant compote is so good I want the recipe for my new restaurant." Amanda say's " this is so yummy I licked the plate" " i really love the flavor profile of this dish it all works together" Chris " I knew you knew what you were doing when you toasted the bread in the rendered beef fat, Oh My God!" Scott" I don't get the bread, what do i want toast for?" " This is too raw for me and I eat raw hamburger."

While we were waiting in the green room, the other contestants came up and congratulated me for winning. They both had pretty much thrown in the towel after getting raped in the judging. I walked out fully expecting to move to the next round, They lifted up the cover and it was me. I said thank you and as I walked out the door, they stopped production and everyone that was working there came and said goodbye to me. Said I was the nicest contestant they ever had and if I ever needed anything give them a call. All of that was edited out.

Justin0505

01-11-2012, 08:12 PM

Wow.
Thanks for sharing all of that. I always suspected that there was a lot of BS that goes on behind the scenes/gets "cut" in editing, but I never knew that it was that bad.
For whatever it's worth, just know that even in the edited, spun, crap they aired, you still came out looking like you should have won that round.

Every time I try a new, self-proclaimed steakhouse, I order my steak black n' blue or Pittsburgh blue(as I've also heard it called). I can count on 1 hand the number of places that knew what that was and on 2 fingers the number of them that did it perfectly.
Your show was clearly a case of Scott not knowing a perfect filet even if was staring him in the face.

On a side note I had no idea that taro root was toxic raw.... I always cook it, but I am a bit shocked/embraced that never knew and it's not marked on the packaging.
Can the calcium-oxalate be absorbed through the skin, and or are the gloves just to avoid cross contamination?

sachem allison

01-11-2012, 10:11 PM

Wow.
Thanks for sharing all of that. I always suspected that there was a lot of BS that goes on behind the scenes/gets "cut" in editing, but I never knew that it was that bad.
For whatever it's worth, just know that even in the edited, spun, crap they aired, you still came out looking like you should have won that round.

Every time I try a new, self-proclaimed steakhouse, I order my steak black n' blue or Pittsburgh blue(as I've also heard it called). I can count on 1 hand the number of places that knew what that was and on 2 fingers the number of them that did it perfectly.
Your show was clearly a case of Scott not knowing a perfect filet even if was staring him in the face.

On a side note I had no idea that taro root was toxic raw.... I always cook it, but I am a bit shocked/embraced that never knew and it's not marked on the packaging.
Can the calcium-oxalate be absorbed through the skin, and or are the gloves just to avoid cross contamination?
thanks, Justin
if your skin is overly sensitive or you have cuts or broken skin people have been known to have reactions. In my case, we filmed this in February and the skin on my hands were cracked and the taro root caused a rather uncomfortable burning sensation. You know they contacted me for the show and i said no, but my boss wanted me to do it for the exposure. In the end, i did it for the experience. I even told them I didn't care if I won I just didn't want to be the first one voted off and I wasn't.

sachem allison

01-11-2012, 10:13 PM

PS why the **** hasn't anyone come in to eat yet?

chef hours buddy, no days off, no money.lol

Line cooked

01-28-2012, 01:34 PM

I totaly missed this...i will try to make it in soon.

Eamon Burke

01-28-2012, 04:59 PM

PS why the **** hasn't anyone come in to eat yet?

Cause it's a 26 hour, 1600 mile drive?

AnxiousCowboy

02-05-2012, 06:46 PM

Just shot the chopped episode. Signed a confidentiality agreement so I can't really say **** other than the shoot took almost 17 hours (not counting the 5 hours it took to shoot the 30 second intro) and that it will air in september--first episode of the new season.

Crothcipt

02-05-2012, 11:03 PM

sachem, I remember watching that episode and was yelling at the judges on how stupid the one of them was on how your meat was cooked. I hope you had found your knives, it would really suck if you ended up losing money doing the show. It may also be that you just had a heart attack that they got rid of you so soon.

Any way good luck on the show. hope you did well, and I hope you had a better time than sachem did.

mpukas

02-07-2012, 03:01 PM

Just shot the chopped episode...

Sweet! Can't wait to see it and hear about your experience.

Eamon Burke

02-07-2012, 04:45 PM

it will air in september--first episode of the new season.

Cool! I'll be sure to watch it on Hulu in August 2014.

joex175

02-22-2012, 10:39 AM

quick bump to this thread , Anxious , I was wondering if you guys would be interested in having a Stage maybe in april for like a week , If I am able to get it.

I have been looking around and have been seeing la sillhouette getting some great reviews , maybe send me a PM if you see this

ps. I dont suck

hax9215

02-22-2012, 01:42 PM

It is obvious that you are an experienced chef, but I never knew I was dealing with a TV Star! :notworthy:

I wondered why you did not clean that tender, in all honesty I thought it was an old guy thing. :) I have worked with many chefs of our generation, particularly in europe, who would not strip off the chain or silverskin.

imho that particular show had an agenda; that being the classical rules that trained chefs view as dogma are to be ignored-even if they make sense!!! I have nothing against innovation for its own sake, but sometimes there is a good reason no one has tried a particular combination before. You should take it as a compliment that they chose you as a target because they viewed you as a chef who knew how to prepare classical food correctly.

HEART ATTACK TWO DAYS BEFORE! Actually, being a real culinarian from a time when chefs were chefs I would expect no less-GET THE FOOD OUT!!!

Hax the Cook CLEAVERS RULE!!! :D

knyfeknerd

03-08-2012, 08:48 AM

Awesome, congrats. That's some good press too. Do you guys have a PR person? Or are food writers in NY actually on top of it ? In my po-dunk town you can tell the only food group that has a PR person because they are in the paper every week and get a 2 sentence paragraph in BA or F&W.
My family & I are heading up to visit the wife's side of the family in CT this summer. Will take the train in and check it out.

AnxiousCowboy

03-09-2012, 02:46 AM

We just made a pr transition, it's a must in nyc. Definitely hit me up when you're in town!

WildBoar

04-24-2012, 11:10 PM

season 4 episode 11 keep on cookin on. i can't find a linkHoly crap -- the Son episode is on right now! (and repeats at 2:00 am)

Deckhand

04-24-2012, 11:14 PM

Holy crap -- the Son episode is on right now! (and repeats at 2:00 am)

Yep on now pacific time then again at 11pm. Lol was just thinking about him. My 9 year old son broke my toe sideways today when he was horse playing. Wife was at work I was watching the kids. So I relocated and reset it myself and then taped it to the toe next to it. For some reason this reminded me of son "sachem"

Crothcipt

04-25-2012, 12:59 AM

gonna have to watch that one again. Been a while, may have to go get some red wine (only alcohol I can drink) and watch it.

Crothcipt

04-26-2012, 01:20 AM

sachem, I remember watching that episode and was yelling at the judges on how stupid the one of them was on how your meat was cooked. I hope you had found your knives, it would really suck if you ended up losing money doing the show. It may also be that you just had a heart attack that they got rid of you so soon.

Any way good luck on the show. hope you did well, and I hope you had a better time than sachem did.

Watched the episode you were on last night, I can't believe you were chopped when you were.

Crothcipt

04-26-2012, 01:21 AM

sachem, I remember watching that episode and was yelling at the judges on how stupid the one of them was on how your meat was cooked. I hope you had found your knives, it would really suck if you ended up losing money doing the show. It may also be that you just had a heart attack that they got rid of you so soon.

Any way good luck on the show. hope you did well, and I hope you had a better time than sachem did.

Watched the episode you were on last night, I can't believe you were chopped when you were. I was mistaken what episode you were on though.

sachem allison

04-26-2012, 01:33 AM

I have never watched it, but I can't believe I lost either. lol

WildBoar

04-26-2012, 08:52 AM

I watched it twice the other night, and the outcome was the same both times. :(

Crothcipt

04-30-2012, 03:02 AM

I watched it twice the other night, and the outcome was the same both times. :(

Kinda like watching the Titanic again. Even in 3d it still sinks.:razz:

AnxiousCowboy

05-11-2012, 02:14 AM

Finally got reviewed by the new york times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/dining/reviews/a-review-of-la-silhouette-in-hells-kitchen.html?_r=1
Now time to get ready and ride the wave

sachem allison

05-11-2012, 02:45 AM

very nice

Johnny.B.Good

05-11-2012, 02:47 AM

Finally got reviewed by the new york times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/dining/reviews/a-review-of-la-silhouette-in-hells-kitchen.html?_r=1
Now time to get ready and ride the wave

Exciting.

Do you think the review is fair?

Did you spot the reviewer when he visited? Are you tipped off that one is coming?

I hope you see a rush of new business in the weeks and months to come.

SpikeC

05-11-2012, 02:40 PM

Congrats! It made me want to go to NY!

AnxiousCowboy

05-12-2012, 01:33 AM

Yeah, we ID'd him each time he came. The night before the review came out Pete Wells called to ask a bunch of questions, almost as if he forgot his dining experience and mentioned "I'm very behind schedule"

I think the words on the review are somewhat fair. I intentionally cook the chicken breast to a beautiful blonde and have made the comment to new cooks, "Do no hammer this breast, the tarragon brine will not shine through and you will overpower the ballontine, cook it to a blonde, not everything roasted has to be as dark as you can get it without burning it, that's just a trend..." The most common comment we get regarding the review is "When I read it I thought it was a two or three star review and was really surprised to only see one star..."

What do you think?

Either way, I've been trying to up people's moral by preaching, "It's time to put your egos aside and start making money, this is a business." Our reservations have been climbing. In the end though, I thought it would be a battle between two and three stars, no one expected to get one. Come in and judge for yourself :)

Exciting.

Do you think the review is fair?

Did you spot the reviewer when he visited? Are you tipped off that one is coming?

I hope you see a rush of new business in the weeks and months to come.

Johnny.B.Good

05-12-2012, 01:50 AM

Interesting (I am not in the business, so have no idea how critics and restaurants operate).

Does someone in the front of the house make it his/her business to know the face of every "important" critic in the city? I assume you then go out of your way to make it a great experience, but do you tip your hand that you know who he is? Does he sit and make notes as the evening progresses? Not sure I could ever describe a meal I have had in a restaurant in such detail if I didn't keep notes the entire time.

I thought it was overwhelmingly positive and was surprised to see only one star at the end (four stars is the max?), however I don't take the Times and don't know how the scale works (I guess one star is pretty good considering his comments).

I would happily visit, but you're a bit out of my neighborhood I'm afraid. Everything looks and sounds great and I wish you continued success.

Crothcipt

05-12-2012, 01:55 AM

Ouch 1 star. From the write up you would think it would be higher. Did he explain why he gave what he did, other than the write up?

Gratz on the review, hope it gets your phone ringing off the hook.

Andrew H

05-12-2012, 02:03 AM

Yeah, we ID'd him each time he came. The night before the review came out Pete Wells called to ask a bunch of questions, almost as if he forgot his dining experience and mentioned "I'm very behind schedule"

I think the words on the review are somewhat fair. I intentionally cook the chicken breast to a beautiful blonde and have made the comment to new cooks, "Do no hammer this breast, the tarragon brine will not shine through and you will overpower the ballontine, cook it to a blonde, not everything roasted has to be as dark as you can get it without burning it, that's just a trend..." The most common comment we get regarding the review is "When I read it I thought it was a two or three star review and was really surprised to only see one star..."

What do you think?

Either way, I've been trying to up people's moral by preaching, "It's time to put your egos aside and start making money, this is a business." Our reservations have been climbing. In the end though, I thought it would be a battle between two and three stars, no one expected to get one. Come in and judge for yourself :)

The way I read it I thought it was a 2 or 3 star review. The scale is 0-4 stars. If you get 0 stars you can also get "poor, fair, or satisfactory" attached. One star is "good" two stars is "very good" three stars is "excellent" and four stars "extraordinary." His major complaint seemed to be one element of each dish wasn't supposed to be there, I don't read that as a "good" restaurant. Two seemed more likely, but hey, you can't complain.

Johnny.B.Good

05-12-2012, 02:51 AM

The way I read it I thought it was a 2 or 3 star review. The scale is 0-4 stars. If you get 0 stars you can also get "poor, fair, or satisfactory" attached. One star is "good" two stars is "very good" three stars is "excellent" and four stars "extraordinary." His major complaint seemed to be one element of each dish wasn't supposed to be there, I don't read that as a "good" restaurant. Two seemed more likely, but hey, you can't complain.

If this is the scale, then I agree with you that the review read like he was describing a two or three star establishment. Hopefully people read the reviews and don't just count stars. Should be good for business I imagine.

AnxiousCowboy

05-12-2012, 09:18 AM

Interesting (I am not in the business, so have no idea how critics and restaurants operate). Does someone in the front of the house make it his/her business to know the face of every "important" critic in the city? I assume you then go out of your way to make it a great experience, but do you tip your hand that you know who he is? Does he sit and make notes as the evening progresses? Not sure I could ever describe a meal I have had in a restaurant in such detail if I didn't keep notes the entire time.

He didnt take notes or anything. We treated him the same way we treat any VIP in that we seat him at the nicer tables on the floor. Other than that there is no preferential treatment. Other than the write up there is no explanation for the rating. Like I said before it's kind of a downer since we did not expect to get one star, but the review was indeed positive and the books are filling up; we are getting a lot of positive feedback from the clientele. I'd rather make everyone happy while doing 60% more business than dwell on one person's opinion on nettle raviolis. Most people's reaction to their meal while juxtaposing the review is surprise because they expected something lesser since we only got one star. The way I look at it, that element of surprise is even more motivation for that client to spread the word and their opinion.

AnxiousCowboy

05-12-2012, 09:20 AM

PS:
I thought my chopped episode was going to air in september, but I got this email last night:
Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 @ 10PM ET -- subject to change

WildBoar

05-12-2012, 10:03 AM

Sweet -- only one month away! Looking forward to watching it.

Glad to hear business is up. Word-of-mouth will take over at this point, and the one star will be a distant memory.

Johnny.B.Good

05-12-2012, 12:27 PM

Thanks for all the inside information on the restaurant business and how critics operate.

I will keep my eyes out for your episode of Chopped!

Crothcipt

05-12-2012, 02:30 PM

Each critic operates differently, same with how each paper, mag., web., ect. Some will talk to the owners, management. But those are usually paid for by the restaurant. Others will do a write up and explain why they gave what they did, and how to raise it for next time (very few). I think what you got was best. It keeps both parties honest, and helps in rep.

Good luck in a very hard area. I, if I didn't state so earlier, would love to try out your place.

mpukas

05-12-2012, 06:35 PM

... We treated him the same way we treat any VIP in that we seat him at the nicer tables on the floor. Other than that there is no preferential treatment...

Good for you for keeping it honest. There's not much I can stand less than a restaurant that gushes over a reviewer to the neglect of the other patrons, and/or creating false pretenses. Too many times I've read a glowing review of a restaurant, whether it's here in the valley or on the front range, and been hugely disapointed. And I've been in a local joint a few years ago for a friend's b'day dinner party the night a reviewer f/ a paper was in - the reviewer had the attention on the whole place swarming over her, and we got bad service and lousy, cold food. She gave the joint a glowing review in the paper the next day - my experience couldn't have been more opposite. I was so pissed.

Looking forward to the Chopped episdoe! mpp

mpukas

05-12-2012, 06:41 PM

One more thought - reviews are just one person's opinion, and they are somewhat refelctive of the establishment they are writing for. Never-the-less, they can be refelctive of what a general consensus. Sometimes critics can be way off base; sometimes they can be far more astute that the average person coming in off the street. As I read it, I can see why he gave 1 star. Good to hear that it's generating biz. Whether or not you agree with the criticism, look at what he had to say and take from it that which is constructive, and use it to move yourself, the food and the restautant forward.

AnxiousCowboy

06-07-2012, 09:59 PM

My episode of Chopped is airing this Tuesday, June 12th, let me know what you think, I don't have a TV atm!

knyfeknerd

06-07-2012, 10:01 PM

My episode of Chopped is airing this Tuesday, June 12th, let me know what you think, I don't have a TV atm!

Got it on my calendar already.

GlassEye

06-07-2012, 10:11 PM

My episode of Chopped is airing this Tuesday, June 12th, let me know what you think, I don't have a TV atm!

I will tell DVR to record it for me.

JohnnyChance

06-07-2012, 10:12 PM

My episode of Chopped is airing this Tuesday, June 12th, let me know what you think, I don't have a TV atm!

Is it the "Grilltastic" episode with a "surprise" ingredient in the appetizer round (aren't they all surprises?) and wagyu beef?

The Edge

06-07-2012, 10:41 PM

I don't have cable, hopefully Hulu airs it, so I can enjoy it.

Crothcipt

06-07-2012, 11:13 PM

hulu is only airing old ones.:(

Eamon Burke

06-07-2012, 11:38 PM

Boo

mattrud

06-08-2012, 01:12 AM

hahaha, good luck dude. I have never watched an episode of that show. Might have to figure out how to watch it.

Crothcipt

06-08-2012, 01:16 AM

It looks tough. Not sure when they judge if the food is even hot.

AnxiousCowboy

06-10-2012, 10:48 AM

hahaha, good luck dude. I have never watched an episode of that show. Might have to figure out how to watch it.